[1] OSPD is characterized by the presence of two forms of openness: Generally, OSPD processes are relevant for complex products, whose definition requires the collaborative integration of input from multiple contributors.
This, however, does not exclude the existence of OSPD processes for simple products.
OSPD specifies the concept of "open source innovation" as defined by Huizingh[2] with complex tangible products.
The word "community" is used in contrast to "company" or "team" in order to highlight three fundamental differences with the governance of conventional industrial product development.
[3] OSPD is "collaborative" in that it is performed with a certain simultaneity or parallelism in the work provided by the community members.